It’ll come laced into three new wheel builds and available separately, and is one of the first non-mountain-bike carbon clincher rims that’s made specifically for disc brakes. That said, it’s tested tough enough for XC use, but since it’s not a true tubeless rim, we don’t see many people putting it into service on the trail.

Rims are a combination of UD and 6K/3K woven carbon fibers. The woven carbon is placed at the spoke bed and rim bed for improved strength and stiffness against the pulling and pushing pressure. They’re slightly asymmetric to line up better with the disc brake offset.

Rims are drilled for 32 spokes. The internal sidewall is pretty low, which should make tubeless conversions fairly simple.

The rim width is 25mm external, 18mm internal. That makes them look pretty good with Ritchey’s fat 35c ‘cross tires:

Weight is about 460g, and they said they’re made super burly. So strong, in fact, they say they were busting hub axles in testing before the rims failed. Standalone rims will sell for $600 each.

The top of the line wheelset comes with Hope Pro Evo 2 straight pull with DT Swiss Super Comp spokes. The straight pull version of that hub is specific to QBP for now. Retail is $1,900 and will come with 15mm thru axle front and standard QR rear, but 12mm thru axle rear kits are available. 1870g for the set on our scale.

Next down is DT 350 hubs, also with triple butted Super Comp spokes. Retail is $1,700. The third set uses SRAM X9 hubs with Competition spokes for $1,500. Both of these come with QR axle parts only, but any axle parts available aftermarket will work as they should.

All wheels will come stock with 10-speed free hub bodies for now, and 11-speed parts will replace them as a rolling change as they become available. It may require a redish, though. All are available to order now, but aren’t up on the website yet.

For those resisting the change or just wanting to lighten up their current cyclocross bike, there’s a new Whisky No.7 straight carbon fork for cantilever brakes.

This one’s also available now and is online. It uses the same full carbon fiber construction of their other forks, has a 350lb rider weight limit and carries a 5 year warranty.

to do that and still make strong profit, he’ll need to make margin elsewhere. Why else do you think it’s cheaper for US based stores to buy their P & A from the UK? Q is putting some very healthy margins on their stuff.

Pmurf - 08/06/13 - 10:53pm

Man, I thought for sure given the relatively mild price of their forks that these would be around the 400 pricepoint. And the 32 hole only option is limiting IMO. People are gonna want to build lower-spoked wheels, especially on disc road bikes. Then again, they may come out with a less burly and lighter road specific version.

Sorry….but rim weight is way off. Of course you can bust a Hope axel….super easy as is. Whiskey is a great idea…..but $600 a rim for an overweight rim? c’mon…10 years ago that’d work. But not now. QBP needs new talent if this is what is coming out. $300-200 a rim. Sure. $600? Competelt oblivious to the market. And I can say this…because I was selling them their first carbon rims 10 years ago. Much better than this stuff. Lighter. Cheaper.

Mindless - 08/07/13 - 1:20am

Looks just like $150 direct from China rims.

Ajax - 08/07/13 - 5:22am

What?! $600…. per… rim?!?!??!?!

Are you kidding me? Let me say that again… ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

These guys are drunk. Seriously. They must be. There is no other explanation for why a fringe small company like this is asking happily if there are people out there who want to get ripped off.

mateo - 08/07/13 - 7:46am

Wow… missed the mark on this one. Heavy, not tubeless, expensive, only 32h…

Bryant - 08/07/13 - 8:28am

Wow my Iron cross 28 spoke wheelset came in at 1300grams and only $600, I think they are way off the mark with these

ms6073 - 08/07/13 - 8:38am

@Mindless – Mind sharing with us a link/site for the “$150 direct from China rims” that have a disc specific, 30mm deep carbon rim like the Whiskey rims above? To me these look like a tad heavier and slightly less expensive option to a Enve Twenty9 AM rims?

Frank - 08/07/13 - 9:32am

Strong. Light. Cheap…. pick ONE… and eff the other two.

TechJunk - 08/07/13 - 10:59am

Thinking most of you missed the point, Doesn’t sound like they meant this to be an ultralight rim. If you want that, there seems to be plenty of other options.

A lightweight aluminum rim (iron cross/crest) will may be cheaper, but you need to rebuild it every season if you weigh more than 175, and they flex all over the place. I am all for a bombproof and stiff rim/wheelset.

Also, An Enve similar rim is $250 more and you save 20 grams.

K11 - 08/07/13 - 11:23am

these are going to be a tuff sell.

by the way if these rims are the burly hub snapping beasts that they claim they are…why the weight limit? just saying.

Forget comparing to the Iron Cross. These things are the same weight as Arch EXs. Yeah, the 21mm internal width trail bike rim.

They’re 35g heavier than the Stan’s Alpha 400 which is their beefier road rim.

They are 30mm deep though, so if you care about that, I guess that is a benefit over an aluminum rim. Still don’t think these will be big sellers though.

ThorsHammer - 08/07/13 - 1:14pm

Lighter is not always better. And carbon, many times is not lighter than aluminum.
Sure a aluminum rim that is 80 grams lighter is going to be cheaper.
But I went through 2 sets of iron cross rims last season, because they are like lightweight wet noodles, and they flex all over the place. I’m only 180lbs.

I personally applaud a bombproof carbon rim option, that costs less than enve.
At 460 grams, I would expect these to last a few seasons!

Mindless - 08/07/13 - 1:33pm

@ThorsHammer: Than just get Arch EX. You will not destroy them on a cyclocross bike.

James S - 08/07/13 - 2:23pm

So maybe the Iron Cross rim isn’t for you, ThorsHammer. But would you really want to spend 7 times as much money for a rim that weighs more? Really? Wow. Let me get this straight – you replace rims that aren’t working for you with the EXACT same rims and then instead of trying a different aluminum rim from another company, you want to go straight to a heavier carbon rim that costs 7 times as much. Interesting.

ThorsHammer - 08/07/13 - 3:25pm

@ James, No, I do not want to spend 7 times as much on a rim.
Regardless of weight (ultralight rims are not my jam). But I will spend money on something that lasts longer, and allows me to ride more.

And yes, I have tried many different types of aluminum rims. Even flow rims on my gravel bike. Everything can be destroyed if you ride hard enough.
What I am saying is that aluminum will dent and bend out of shape, so it doesn’t matter what it weights, and how cheap it is.

Carbon will not. To make a rim as sturdy as a 460gr carbon rim,
It would take a much heavier aluminum rim.
Carbon is not just about weight.

Joe417 - 08/07/13 - 3:43pm

There is no reason to get so snarky and angry about this product. No one is forcing you to buy this. If you have misgivings then feel free to share them and I’m sure the guys at Whisky will read them, but if you want to be taken seriously then share those misgivings in a way that doesn’t seem like you’re a school yard bully.

My two cents, these are very expensive, but they seem tough, and having met a few guys from Whisky I think they’ll stand up on their own two feet. One reality that most people miss about Q-brands is that they operate on a VASTLY smaller economy of scale than their competitors, and they also pay their employees very livable wages, most of them based in areas that don’t have supremely low cost of living. If you want these things to be cheap, be aware that you’re frequently trading a lot of humanity for those savings. I used to be a shoprat making $14k a year in southwest Missouri, and these rims aren’t really meant for someone like me, so I spec’d my Space Horse with Velocity Synergies instead, and everything is gravy. There’s no need to be mad because the dangling grapes are out of your reach.

sbrdude1 - 08/07/13 - 4:11pm

http://www.light-bicycle.com/ I’m the guy in the top center pic. They make very high quality strong carbon rims. Talk to Nancy and say Erik sent you.

Frank - 08/08/13 - 10:44am

@Joe417: The thing about Whisky/Foundry is that they are marketed as carbon fiber for the blue-collar work-a-day crowd. So on the one hand it does make sense that they would release a carbon rim that is durable rather than light. On the other hand, the only people who are willing to dish out SIX-HUNDRED DOLLARS for a single rim are sponsored racers (who are not paying full price) or racer wanna-be’s, and those people want light parts. Its bad enough spending $90 for Stan’s Chinese made Aluminum rims, but you can buy 6 Arch EX rims for the price of one of these Whisky rims, and still have beer money left over. I’m sure the big, burley blue-collar guy who busts wheels all the time is going to choose the reasonably priced option.

Your argument might hold water if there were a lot of American workers making a good wage making and selling these rims. But these rims are made in the same Chinese factories as all the other Asian-sourced carbon parts, by people making pennies an hour. I suspect there are less than a handful of people employed by Quality in the US making that living wage selling these parts. At least those crazy expensive ENVE rims are made in the USA, creating a lot more well paying jobs then the Whisky rim ever would.

g - 08/08/13 - 1:00pm

frank just nailed it

bikeguy0 - 08/08/13 - 2:16pm

Good Grief. Learn how to build wheels and make them yourself. I have 4 rims from China coming for $128 a piece being built on American Classic hubs and Pillar Aero spokes. Built by me. Looking at about $500 bucks for a 38mm Wide carbon disc tubular wheelset. For crying out loud, I have a set of light bicycle wheels coming in the same spec but with a Novatec hub (which is good btw) for $500 for the set.
This is a wheelset/rim for people that don’t have friends that can help them or can’t true a wheel themselves or sponsored riders getting them for free. Even if you get a discount, what? your paying $300 for a rim that you can get from Light Bicycle for $128?

K11 - 08/08/13 - 2:42pm

frank – well said.

Devin - 08/09/13 - 11:48am

The real question is what year model is that Kelly green all city cross frame?!?!?

Hub - 08/16/13 - 12:57pm

@Devin – that is the team color only (12 made) All-City x Fulton Brewing Nature Boy Zona with the matching Whisky fork.

I’m-monna get my troll on. This is stupid. I’m so glad that Whisky has graced this earth with overpriced bicycle parts.

nick - 10/13/13 - 11:50pm

@ms6073 for the guy that asked for the link to the chinese “version” of this rim…

bikehubstore.com – and they are $480 for the pair in tub form

i think this is scarily familiar to the Gigantex 30mm deep x 25mm wide rims i suspect also used by Mercury for their S series wheels. not saying Gigantex is “cheap chinese carbon” – far from it. but if it looks like a duck…

Caleb - 04/04/14 - 9:58pm

I have seen many people bashing these wheels, so I’m going to put my two sense in. I have a set of these with DT swiss 350 hubs on a salsa colossal. I absolutely love them. They feel alive where aluminum rims feels dead and flexy. There just as stiff as the frame which is stupid stiff? They weigh about 1700g and ride like tubulars. Some people have said stuff about these being re-branded and up-charged ebay carbon from china. But I assure you these are very nice, and most certainly not a variety of the cheap china rims. Did I mention they are stiff as a rock? Coming off of a standard no name deep v rim these make me feel like I have some serious tail wind at my back, even though I’m going up a hill. Try them, I guarantee you won’t regret it, I don’t.

Scott knapp - 06/17/14 - 8:59pm

What rims are in the second picture with the canti brakes
Im looking for a non disc 32h carbon rim to lace to my chris king cross hubs

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